Short Stories

Originally published under the somewhat more reasonable title “Second Variety” in 1987 (Because it was the second in the series), the book was re-titled and re-released in 1990 to cash in on expected the “Total Recall” bonanza. Lest there be any confusion on this point, the full title appears to be “The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 2: We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, The Story That Inspired The Hit Motion Picture TOTAL RECALL.” That’s the thing about trade paperbacks from the first half of the 90s: You’re never sure where the title ends and the subscript begins.

Ah, Philip K. Dick, is there any dead SF author I loveth more than thee? I think not. Let’s just get the gonzo stuff out of the way up front: I first *heard* of the guy when reading “Space Worlds, Wars, and Weapons,” an odd little cover art coffee table book from the late 1970s, which had a paragraph about Phil’s story “Imposter.” I knew Blade Runner, of course, and I knew nebulously of Phil thereby, but couldn’t remember his name. I do not remember the first story I read by him - odd how true love comes from sometimes murky beginnings, huh?

A decade ago, there were a bunch of Babylon 5 tie-in novels and short stories published. The novels are still fairly easy to find on the internet, the short stories are real tough to dig up, though: They were published only in various magazines, never reprinted, never collected, and they’re unlikely to be. I can’t reprint the stories, but I *can* at least review ‘em and let you know what you’re missing. Which I’m doing here:

After Babylon 5 ended, there were a spate of official, canonical short stories published, mostly written by series creator Joe Straczynski himself. These stories have never been reprinted, nor collected, and given the general lack of media interest in B5, they're unlikely to be anytime soon. I have all the stories, but for obvious legal reasons I can't simply post 'em here. As a service to fans who might be driving themselves crazy trying to find these particular straws in a needle-stack, I offer an overview, review, and my observations. It's not much, but it's what I've got.

Today we look at a short story written by Babylon 5 creator Joe Strazynski himself, telling the further adventures of Lyta and G’kar.

PLAY BY PLAY

Six weeks after leaving Babylon 5, G’kar and Lyta are still both dodging unwanted attention, but G’kar is doing a particularly bad job of it. He’s trysting with any female who has even reasonably compatible anatomy. After bedding an alien princess, G’kar finds himself in a major brawl. He and Lyta elect to leave the planet Durk 3 in a hurry.

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